Breech-loading gun



Sept. 30, 1969 N. c. CHRISTAKOS BREECH-LOADING GUN Filed Oct. 4. 1967' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 92 JV/cox. nas 6f L'HRisTAA as' 9Q INVENrbR 11/3 ATTORNE Sep tQ30, 1969 N. c. CHRISTAKOS BREECH-LOADING GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4. 1967 M'ooAn 0s 6. CHIEIQTAK 06 11/3 ATTOA YEX United States Patent 3,469,337 BREECH-LOADING GUN Nicolaos C. Christakos, 2832 N. Austin Ave, Chicago, Ill. 60634 Filed Oct. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 672,850 Claims priority, application Greece, Feb. 28, 1967,

31,748, Patent 8,528

Int. Cl. F41c 15/02, 15/04 US. Cl. 42-47 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention consists in the novel combination and ar-- rangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed. The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred form of construction and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a breech loaded FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the three main parts of the gun construction,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detailed view of the ejector as associated with the gun,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the ejector mechanism in a retracted or shell receiving position,

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the locking lever as associated with the gun,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the locking lever in an open position,

FIG. 8 is a top plan view showing the locking mechanism as contained in the fore end portion of the gun,

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view similar to FIG. 8 showing the latch in its unlocked position,

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the ejector mechanism in exploded relation with respect to the breech portion of the gun,

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the trigger mechanism, and

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of the parts of the cocking mechanism of the gun.

As shown in FIG. 1 the present invention is incorporated in a gun of the rifle type and is generally indicated as at 10. The invention may be readily adapted to be incorporated in guns other than that illustrated, and should not be limited to the general type shown herein.

The gun 10 includes a barrel 11, a stock 12 and a fore end piece 13. The barrel 11 terminates into a breech end 14 and has a connecting block 15 depending therefrom. The forward wall of the connecting block 15 is recessed as at 16 to receive the pivot pin 17 provided by a frame 18 at the forward end of the stock 12. The rear wall of the connecting block 15 is notched as at 19 and receives the barrel latch 20 which will be hereinafter more fully described. The connecting block 15 of the gun is provided with a longitudinally extending channel 21 which receives the stem 22 of an ejector 23. The ejector 23, as seen in FIG. 5, provides a head 24 which has a curved upper edge conforming to the bore of the barrel 11. The head also provides a pair of guide pins 25 which project into guide shell 3,469,337 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 "ice slots 26 formed in the barrel wall adjacent the rear end thereof as more clearly shown in FIG. 10. Formed in the side wall of the block 15 is a recess 27 which extends transversely to and has one end thereof in open communication with the channel 21. The pivot latch as shown in FIG. 10 includes a circular bearing portion 29, which has an aperture 30 formed therein, which receives one end of a connecting screw 31 which is threaded into the block 15 through the bore 32 and through the recess 27. An expansion spring 33 is placed in the recess 27 between the lower end of the latch 28 and its bearing portion 29 to normally urge the upper end of the latch 28 into the recess 27 and into the cut out portion 34 formed in the stem 22 of the ejector 23 when the same is moved from right to left in the channel 21 as seen in FIG. 10. When the connecting block 15 is pivoted into the frame 18 when the gun is closed, the corresponding inner wall of the frame 18 will bear against the lower end of the latch 28 and pivot the same against the spring 33 into the cut out portion 34, and pivot the upper end thereof out of the cut out 34 formed in the stem 22 of the ejector 23. However, the ejector 23 will not move into its ejecting position because the ejector head 24 will bear against the guns breech block.

The channel 21 also receives an expansion spring 35 which bears against the end of the stem 22 normally forcing it in a direction from left to right as viewed in FIG. 10. The movement of the ejector 23 in the channel 21 is restricted by a stop pin 35' which is projected into an opening 36 formed in the one wall of the block 15, and which is in open communication with the channel 21. The inner end of the stop pin 35 is adapted to ride in the relieved portion 37 formed in the base of the stem 22.

By the above description of parts when the gun is opened in a manner hereinafter described the latch 28, having been pivoted by the inner wall surface of the frame 18 out of the cut out 34 formed in the stem 22, the spring 35 will forcibly move the ejector 23 a limited distance so that the head 24 thereof will eject a shell or cartridge from the bore 'of the barrel 11.

The barrel 11 forwardly of the connecting block 15 carries a depending substantially U-shaped latch plate 38. This latch plate 38 engages a latch lever 39 slidably contained in the fore end 13 of the gun 10. The latch lever 39 includes a protruding push button 40 which extends out of the lefthand side of the fore end 13. The push button 40 is connected to the latch lever 39 which in turn is held within the fore end 13 of the gun by a flat spring 41 connected by a screw 42 to the opposite side of the fore end 13 of the gun 10 as viewed in FIGS. 8 and 9. The latch plate 38 projects through a slot 43 formed vertically through the fore end 13, and has the latch lever 39 resiliently projected between the arms of the latch plate so as to connect the fore end 13 to the barrel 11.

The rear end of the fore end 13 is provided with a cocking stud 44 which when the gun is opened, by pivoting the barrel 11 and fore end 13 about the pivot pin 17 relative to the stock 12, will bear upon one end of a cocking lever 45 to move the same longitudinally through the guns frame 18 in a manner hereinafter described to automatically cock the gun.

Connected to the forward end of the stock 12 is the frame 18. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 12, it has a back plate 47 and arm 48 which receives a threaded bolt 46 projected through the stock 12 in the conventional manner for connecting the guns frame 18 thereto.

The frame 18 comprises a generally hollow, opened top body 49 having a substantially solid breech block 50 through which the firing pin 51 projects. The firing pin 51 includes an enlarged circular head piece 52 contained in a chamber 56 formed in the block 50 which chamber has communication with a stepped passage 57 which receives the firing pin expansion spring 58 as well as the elongated pin portion 59 as seen in FIG. 12. The head 52 is recessed as at 53 toreceive a screw 54 threaded through an opening 55 formed in the base of the breech block 50 which functions to slidably contain the pin 51 in the breech block 50.

A safety lever is indicated as at 60 in FIG. 12, and includes a circular pin portion 61 adapted to be journaled in an opening 62 formed in the side walls of the frame 18. Between the walls of the frame 18 and upon the pin portion 61 of the safety lever 60 is adapted to be mounted a cocking piece 63. This cocking piece 63 comprises a circular bearing portion as well as a radially extending arm 64 which carriers at its free end a roller 65. The cocking piece 63 is fixedly mounted upon the pin portion 61 of the safety lever 60 by a bolt 66, which is threaded through the cocking piece 63 as well as the pin portion 61 of the safety lever 60. Externally of the frame 18 the safety lever 60 terminates into a laterally projecting finger piece 67 (see FIG. 2).

The cocking piece 63 being connected to the safety lever 60 is rotated therewith when the same is manually moved. By this action the roller 65 will engage the forward wall 68 of the striking hammer 69. The striking hammer 69 provides a hammerhead 70 which is adapted to strike the exposed circular head portion 52 of the firing pin 51. The hammer piece '69 is pivotally mounted on a pin 71 (see FIG. 11) which connects the hammer piece 69 to the trigger assembly mounting plate 72. The forward wall 68 of the hammer piece 69 provides a stop shoulder 73 which will engage the flat end surface 74 of the cocking piece 63 when the latter is rotated in a sufficient clockwise direction, so as to be latched in its pivoted position. The hammer piece 69 has movably connected thereto a connecting stud 74 which is adapted to sit in a notched head 75 of an elongated hammer spring shaft 76. The shaft 76 has coiled thereabout an expansion spring 77. The free end of the shaft 76 is adapted to be slidably connected to the trigger assembly mounting plate 72 in a manner hereinafter more fully described.

Connected to the underside of the back plate 47 of the frame 18 by means of a screw 78 is a leaf spring 79 which carries at its free end an indicating pin 80. The indicating pin 80 is adapted to be projected out of an opening 81 formed in the back plate 47 when the ham mer 69 is in a cocked position. The leaf spring 79 will normally rest on the curved top wall 82 of the hammer 69 so that when the same is pivoted about its connecting pin 71 the leaf spring will be yieldably bent upwardly so as to project the indicating pin 80 out of the back plate 47.

Housed within a recess formed in the frame 18 is a substantially flat cocking lever 45. One side edge of the lever 45 is notched out as at 83, and when the lever 45 is placed on the bottom wall of the frame 18 the notched out portion 83 will have one end in alignment with an opening 84 formed in the side wall of the frame 18. A coil spring 85 is placed in the notched out portion 83 of the lever 45, and a screw 86 is threaded through the opening 84 so that its inner end will project into the notched out portion 83 and retain the lever 45 in the bottom wall of the frame 18 while permitting it to move longitudinally therethrough. One end of the cocking lever 45 is raised and provides an end surface 87 which bears against a wall portion 88 of the hammer 69.

When the gun is opened as hereinafter explained the cocking stud 44, as provided by the fore end 13 of the gun, will engage the front end 89 of the cocking lever 45, and cause the same to move from left to right as viewed in FIG. 12 against the expansion of the spring 85 to bear the opposite end 87 against the wall 88 of the hammer 69, causing the same to move into its cocked position where it will be held through engagement of a stop shoulder 92 formed on the bottom wall surface of the hammer 69, with a stop shoulder formed on the front end of the trigger finger 91.

To readily permit the gun to be opened I provide a novel quick releasing latch mechanism. This mechanism includes a barrel latch 20 which is formed from a flat piece of metal and is journaled in a rectangular slot 93 formed in the opposite side Walls of the frame 18. The lefthand side of the frame 18 hasa circular opening 94 formed in conjunction with the rectangular slot '93 with the slot 93 receiving one end of the barrel latch 20, and the circular opening 94 receiving the latch button 95. As seen in FIG. 12 the latch button 95 is provided with a rectangular recess 96 so as to be positioned on one end of the barrel latch 20, and is connected thereto by a bolt 97 threaded therethrough and into the barrel latch 20. The portion of the barrel latch 20 which lies within the hollow body of the frame 18 provides a cam surface 98 which normally receives the notched end 19 of the connecting block 15 carried by the barrel. The barrel latch 20 is held in latching position by a fiat leaf spring 99 which is by a screw 100 connected in a recess formed in the righthand side of the side wall of the frame 18 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). The free end of the leaf spring 99 is projected into a notch 101 formed adjacent the one end of the barrel latch 20.

Thus to open the gun the operator only need to depress the latch button 95 into the frame 18, and thisv in turn will laterally move the cam locking surface 98 out of the notch 19 formed in the connecting block 15, thus permitting the gun to be pivoted into an open position about the pivot pin 17. As previously described, when the gun is thus opened, the ejector 23 will eject a shell or cartridge from the open exposed breech end of the barrel 14. Upon placement of a new shell on the ejector head 24 and the depressing of the ejector 23 inwardly of the barrel 14 until it is held in such position by the upper end of the latch 28 forcibly projected by spring 33 into the cut out 34 formed in the stem 22 of the ejector 23, the gun may then be closed and as the lower surface of the notched end 19 of the block 15 engages the cam surface 98 the latch 20 will be forcibly moved laterally, permitting the block 15 to be positioned Within the frame 18 until the latch 20 is yieldably forced into the notch 19.

Simultaneously with the opening of the gun the cocking stud 44 as carrier by the fore end 13 of the gun will have pivoted the cocking lever 45 against the hammer 69 causing it to be locked in its cocked position. In such position the hammer 69 will cause the indicating pin 80 to be projected out of the opening 81 in the back plate 47 so that the operator can visually see that the gun is cocked.

In the event of the failure of the cocking of the gun as hereinbefore described the operator may cock the gun through the safety lever 60 in a manner hereinbefore described.

To assure proper trigger action the gun is provided with a trigger mechanism which includes a trigger guard 102 which has one end 103 connected to the stock 12 of the gun by means of screws and the like. The opposite end of the trigger guard 102 provides a post 104 which is adapted to be projected into the trigger assembly mounting plate 72. The post 104, as well as the trigger assembly mounting plate 72, are equipped with openings which may be aligned and placed in communication with openings 105 formed in one corner of the frame 18, all of which receive a connecting pin 106 for removably connecting the parts in assembled relation. The trigger finger 91 by means of a pin 107 is pivotally connected to the plate 72 in such a manner that a coil spring 108 is disposed between a wall 109 of the plate 72 and a spring seat 110 formed in a portion of the finger trigger 91 as seen in FIG. 11. A second spring 111 is carried by a hollow stud post 112 provided by the plate 72 which spring 111 has its free end in tension against a stop shoulder 113 provided by the trigger finger 91. By this arrangement I provide a double spring arrangement for returning the trigger finger 91 to its hammer locking position after it has been actuated. It should be noted at this time that in the construction of the actuating parts of the gun, the hammer piece 69 is connected to the hammer spring shaft 76 which in turn has journaled thereon a retaining Washer 113', which when the parts are assembled, is disposed in facial abutment with a portion of the second trigger spring 111 and the shaft 76 is slidably projected through the Washer 113' through a corresponding opening 114 formed in the spring 111 as well as through an aligned opening 115 formed in the post 112 of the trigger assembly mounting plate 72.

To retain the trigger assembly in correct position with respect to the frame 18 the former is connected to the free end of the arm 48 by means of a threaded bolt 116.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have arranged cooperating parts of a breech loading type gun wherein a spent shell or cartridge is automatically ejected and the gun is automatically cocked upon the opening of the gun. I also provide a safety lever which operates. directly upon the hammer of the gun to prevent accidental firing of the same, and which lever can also be used to cock the gun in case of its failure to do so upon opening. I have also provided a double spring trigger assembly to assure proper function thereof as well as a method of quick release connections between the parts of the gun so that the same may be readily broken down.

By the arrangement described the gun may be closed Without cocking simply by depressing the trigger finger 91 and simultaneously closing the gun so that the cocking lever 45 will slowly pivot the hammer 69 out of and back into fired position without causing it to strike the firing pin 51 with a force sufiicient to fire the gun.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A breech loading type take-apart gun having a barrel, a hand grip fore end and a stock, a pivotal connection between the barrel, the hand grip fore end and the stock whereby the gun may be opened for loading and unloading, and a frame carried by the stock for housing a firing mechanism, including a hammer, a firing pin and a spring trigger, wherein the improvement comprises:

(a) a quick release connection between the barrel and the stock whereby the parts may be pivotally separated to expose the breech in one end of the barrel,

(b) a shell ejector carried at the breech end of the barrel for automatically ejecting a shell or cartridge therefrom when the barrel is pivoted into its open position,

(0) means for automatically cocking the hammer of the gun upon the opening of the barrel relative to the stock,

(d) a finger operated rotatable safety lever engageable with the hammer for preventing the same from moving with a striking force against the firing pin of the gun,

(e) a cocking piece fixedly mounted on said safety lever and rotatable therewith into contact with said hammer to pivot the same in one direction into a. cocked position,

(f) an indicator means responsive to the cocked position of the hammer to visually indicate the cocked position of the hammer, and

- (g) a dual spring construction for said trigger to assure pivotal movement of the same into latching position with said hammer to releasably maintain the same in a cocked position prior to the firing of the gun.

' 2. A breech loading type take-apart gun as defined by claim 1 wherein said means for automatically cooking the hammer of the gun upon the opening of the barrel relative to the stock comprises:

(a) a cocking lever slidable longitudinally through the frame against the hammer for pivoting the same into cocked position wherein it is releasably held by the trigger when the gun is closed, and

(b) a cocking lever actuating pin carried by the hand grip fore end of the gun and pivoted therewith into moving contact with one end of said cocking lever for sliding the same longitudinally through the frame against the hammer when the gun parts are pivoted into their open position.

3. A breech loading type take-apart gun as defined by claim 1 and including a means for releasably latching said shell ejector in a retracted position Within the breech of the barrel when a shell is loaded therein.

' 4. A breech loading take-apart gun as defined by claim 2 and including a. means for releasably latching said shell ejector in a retracted position within the breech of the barrel when a shell is loaded therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 16,288 12/1856 Schroeder et al 421 172,943 2/1876 Anson et al 4243 288,670 11/1883 Scott et al 42-43 514,414 2/ 1894 Cilley 4244 604,273 5/ 1898 Solodovnikoff 4244 615,958 12/1898 Davenport 4247 624,620 5/1899 Brown 42-41 730,862 6/1903 Bartholmes 4247 2,127,919 8/1938 Horsrud 4243 3,156,994 11/1964 Damon 4247 3,371,441 3/1968 Walther 4270 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 4243, 44, 

